“All My Children’s” Christina Bennett Lind (ex-Bianca Montgomery) never realized how much she could fall in love with a character until she stepped into the shoes of Erica Kane’s benevolent daughter back in 2010. And though a lot has changed since those days — including the end of the sudser’s run on ABC, it’s move to an online network and the eventual return of Binks’ previous portrayer, Eden Riegel — Lind still has a special place in her heart for the beloved character. How do we know? Well, we caught up with the actress to get her take on the new “AMC,” what it’s been like for her to see Riegel return to the role and to dish about the new project she can’t wait for fans to hear about!

“It’s so funny: I was breezing through channels last night, and I saw a promotion for the show ‘Mistresses,’ and they were promoting it as a nighttime soap opera,” the actress begins, noting that things have definitely turned around since she was a part of the previously dying daytime industry. “We always knew that people were going to keep watching, but now they’re even promoting things as soap operas, which is funny.”

Paul Skipper/JPI Studios

Even though she’s not within the daytime world anymore, Lind still keeps tabs on the industry, and she counts herself as a fan of the new “All My Children,” having tuned in to see it online. “I feel very supportive of the show; I think it’s cool what they’re up to, and I love so many of the people who are doing it, so I’m keeping up like a fan would, kind of checking in on them,” she says. “All of the people from the show and who I met through the show are friends, so it’s awesome. The more my friends can work, the better!”

And the actress says that sentiment definitely includes Riegel, whom Prospect Park recast in the role without approaching Lind. “Eden is so great, and I think timing wise, it worked out really well for her, and I couldn’t be happier,” says the actress of the switch. “If I were a producer, I’d probably go for the original [portrayer], too, just to bring as many people in to watch it as once did, so I totally understand the business reasons for it. And she’s lovely, so it’s great. Everything is as it should be.”

As for Lind, she’s been busy not only starting her own production company, The Neboya Collective, but also writing a film she plans to shoot this fall. “It’s really sort of a simple story about grief and a group of friends moving on after losing someone,” she explains of the story, titled “Fireworkers.” “A friend of [my sister’s] casually mentioned over drinks that it might be an interesting idea to be cremated and made into fireworks when she dies, which is a little morbid, but it was one of those ‘Which would you prefer?’ kinds of conversations. [My sister], Heather, told me about it, because she was so struck by it, and we were both kind of struck with how beautiful that image is. I’ve never really heard anyone say that before. So that’s kind of where the kernel of the story started, and then I kind of riffed off of that, and it’s basically a story about this girl who passes, and she leaves a to-do list for all of her friends to accomplish the things she couldn’t do in her life, and the last item on the list is to make her into fireworks. So they journey through this list, and they learn about their relationships with each other and to her and to their own mortality as they send her off in a great celebration of her life and sort of renewal of theirs.”

In addition to writing the script, Lind will be directing the film as well as starring in it — which may seem like a lot to take on, but is exactly how the actress prefers it. “I’ve never been just in the one genre; I’m a bit of an octopus when it comes to that,” she explains. “I sort of feel like I’m doing all sorts of varieties of things, and I guess this is a good example of that.”

The OnLine Network/TOLN

But a busy bee she’ll be, because in the midst of having all of her arms in “Fireworkers,” the actress is moving back to New York! “I have a lot more connections there businesswise than I do in LA, because I was living there before and moved to LA for ‘AMC,’ so I’m going to… try and mine some of that gold,” she reveals, adding that she’d be open to a role on “One Life to Live” or any other soap opera. “If it were an interesting character, then definitely. Bianca was such a gift, because it was such a good fit for me, so I would want to find a character that was a really good fit for me or that was interesting in a different way. Bianca’s a hard act to follow.”

And apparently, so are soap opera fans! “I keep being continually surprised at how committed and supportive Bianca fans are of me,” Lind says. “I really couldn’t be doing literally any of the stuff I’m trying to do without knowing that there’s a group of people out there who are interested and supportive of it, and I keep being humbled by how people care what I’m up to. I think the fans of soaps are probably the most loyal, committed fans, and I’m really grateful for them still — and probably will be forever.”

interesting idea for a movie. I like her sister on Boardwalk Empire. Such a talented family. I would love to see her on another soap!!

KathyNYC

So cool..back in NYC. You and “sis” Alicia will be able to get together more often.

RadBren13

Interestingly, Christina’s AMC girlfriend Sarah Glendening was in the pilot for Mistresses a few years back. I’m so happy for all the things Christina has brewing and I know if she’s involved that they are going to be spectacular.

CTwildheart

I thought she played Bianca very well and Fireworks sounds really good!